Trace-carrier



J. THOMAS.

TRACE CARRIER.

(ModeL) Patented Nov. 15,1881.

iINrTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN THOMAS, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

TRACE-CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 249,692, dated November 15, 1881.

Application filed Juno 6, 1881.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN THOMAS, of Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented a new Improvement in Trace-Carriers; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked'thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l a top view 5 Fig. 2, an end view looking from the rear; Fig. 3, a section on line m 00 through the hooks.

This invention relates to an improvement in the article of saddlery hardware known to the trade as trace-carriers that is to say, a device to be attached to the harness at the intersection of the back and hip straps, to which the cockeye of the trace may be hooked when detached from the whiffletree, the object being, principally, to arrange the hooks in rear of the hip-straps, whereby the usual bridge over those straps, and to which the hooks are attached, is avoided; and it consists in the construction,as hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims.

The frame is in the form of a parallelogram, the forward end or loop, A, to receive the backstrap, the two sides B B, near the forward end, to receive the hip-straps; the rear end or loop, G, for the crupper-strap. At each side and at the rear a diagonal projection is made from the frame of the two sides D D, connected at their outer ends by a bar, E These parts are all in the same plane, and the diagonal frame sufficiently far to the rear of the forward end, A, to permit the hip-straps to be attached to the sides B forward of the diagonal parts D.

Upon each of the cross-bars or ends E of the diagonal parts of the frame a hook, F, is formed, turning upward, inward, and downward, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. These hooks F are fitted for engaging the cockeyes. Their points extend downward nearly to the plane of the bottom of the frame. Upon the inside of the frame, and at the point where the diagonal sides D intersect with the sides B, a connection is made across the frame turning inward and upward, appearing like a semicircular inner end of the diagonal parts of the frame, the

(ModeL) said semicircular ends joined Where they meet above the plane of the frame and so as to form a guard for the hooks. This completes the holder. It is arranged upon a leather chafe,

the straps attached in the usual manner.

The ends of the hooks stand nearly down to the chat'e; but in attaching the cockeyes the chafe will yield or the plate rise slightlytherefrom, so as to permit the cockeyes to enter between the chafe and the end of the hook, and then the chafe itself prevents accidental detachment. The guard formed by the intersection of the semicircular parts, as at G, prevents the reins from catching beneath the books or the hooks interfering with the reins.

1 do not broadly claim a trace-carrier constructed for attachment to the harness at the junction of the back and hip straps; neither do I broadly claim a frame constructed for attachment to the back and hip straps provided with books to engage the cockeyes of the traces; ne ther do I claim such a trace-carrier provided with a guard to prevent the reins from engaging the hooks, as such I am aware is not new; but

\Vhat I do claim is 1. The herein-described traceearrier, consisting of the frame in the form of a parallelogram composed of the end loops, A C, and two sides, B B, with the diagonal parts D intersecting said sides B at their rear parts, each of said diagonal parts constructed with a hook on its outer portion turning upward, inward, and downward in a vertical plane parallel with the said diagonal parts, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described trace-carrier, consisting of the frame in the form of a parallelogram composed of the ends A O and two sides, B B, with the diagonal parts D intersecting said sides B at the rear part of said sides, each of said diagonal parts constructed with a hook on its outer end turning upward, inward, and downward in avertical plane parallel with the said diagonal parts, with the guard G extending from the sides of the frame inward andupward between the hooks, substantially as described.

JOHN THOMAS.

Witnesses:

FRANK A. THOMAS,

G. S. Price. 

